To speak of the “Signs of the Times” in the United States today is to confront difficult, controversial and quite urgent matters. We live in a society where systemic violence is all too frequent and polarization threatens the very fabric of our society. What is demanded of us as a people of faith at this time? How can we respond to these challenges to create a more just society, focused on the common good of all?
Could we take a step back and reassess what we want our society to be? What would be the measure against whichwe could all agree to be accountable? Respectful of the multiple faith traditions that comprise our society, I want toaddress the issue from a Christian and Catholic perspective. Starting there, we have a rich tradition upon which to build a society of justice and peace. Both Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and particularly the Gospels, call us to live the deep values found therein. In addition, we have ethicists like Father James Keenan of Boston College who call us to consider vulnerability as key to responding to the pain of others and as the foundation of our action on their behalf. In his appraisal, vulnerability is something we all share (thus it binds us to one another in solidarity) and has a diversity of manifestations – both negative and positive.1
Too often in a society that values power and independence, vulnerability is often thought of from a negative perspective and as something we do not want. Vulnerability, it seems, touches on fundamental fears and concerns. It conveys the sense that one is fragile, weak, powerless, capable of being harmed or being used by another, subject to injustice, etc. But there is also a positive aspect to vulnerability that immediately puts us in relationship with others, particularly with their needs. As the poet David Whyte explains, “vulnerability is not a weakness, or something we can arrange to do without, vulnerability is not a choice, it is the underlying, ever-present and abiding undercurrent of our natural state.”2 Perhaps it is best described as the capacity to be affected by others and their needs. Even God is vulnerable in this sense: “I have seen the affliction of my people” (Ex 3:7). To be vulnerable is to be open to the life, behavior and situation of the other. In fact, vulnerability is the very condition of responsiveness to others.
A well-known Gospel parable that exemplifies this principle is the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Positive vulnerability marks the Samaritan, not necessarily the man beaten by robbers. Unlike the priest and Levite who pass by the victim without being aroused to act with mercy, the Samaritan is vulnerable to the needs of the other. He becomes “good” by acting with kindness and mercy to the one in need of care. According to Father Keenan, the positive aspects of vulnerability are the necessary conditions for making ethical choices in line with the Gospel.
Is that not what we want from our society? Do we not want to be in the company of others who share our vulnerability and are aroused to act in favor of the needy and oppressed? We need to change our optics; it is not “they” who are needy and oppressed while we remain the strong and invulnerable ones. We are all in need at one time or another, and we must rely on one another to reach out in concern when life leaves us fragile and broken.
No matter what our political affiliation is, none of us is immune from being challenged by the values of the Gospel. We need to wrestle with the demands of vulnerability, for example, if we want ourselves and others to be “good.” We all need to be aroused to act on behalf of the needy, even if, or perhaps especially if, some are at the extremes of poverty, homelessness, and persecution. David Whyte also notes that “to run from vulnerability is to run from the essence of our nature, the attempt to be invulnerable is the vain attempt to become something we are not and most especially, to close off our understanding of the grief of others.”3
Returning to our current state of turmoil and social upheaval, my suggestion is that people of faith challenge our culture not to be content solely with a negative understanding of vulnerability. Rather, we must become comfortable with a positive conception of vulnerability because it is the necessary condition of serving the common good.
1 James Keenan, D’Arcy Lectures at Oxford University, 2022.
2 David Whyte, “Vulnerability,” in Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words, (Langley, WA: Many Rivers Press, 2021)
3 Ibid